Self v. City of Mansfield

• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas
• Writing for the Court: A. JOE FISH, Senior United States District Judge
• Citation: Self v. City of Mansfield, 369 F.Supp.3d 684 (N.D. Tex. 2019)
• Decision Date: 26 March 2019
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:18-CV-0473-G
• Parties: Lindsey N. SELF, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF MANSFIELD, TEXAS, et al., Defendants.

369 F.Supp.3d 684

Lindsey N. SELF, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.CITY OF MANSFIELD, TEXAS, et al., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:18-CV-0473-G

United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Dallas Division.

Signed March 26, 2019

Mark A. Haney, Puls Haney Lyster PLLC, Fort Worth, TX, Ronald Lee Hundley, Ron L. Hundley PC, Dallas, TX, for Plaintiffs.

James T. Jeffrey, Jr., Law Offices of Jim Jeffrey, Arlington, TX, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

A. JOE FISH, Senior United States District JudgeBefore the court is the motion of the defendants the City of Mansfield, Texas (the "City"), Clayton Chandler ("Chandler"), and Tracy Aaron ("Aaron") to dismiss the plaintiffs' claims against them pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), F.R. Civ. P. (docket entry 25). For the following reasons, the motion is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 27, 2016, City of Mansfield police arrested Jeremiah John Gillespie ("Gillespie") for "driving under the influence" and placed him in the City of Mansfield jail ("Mansfield jail") located within the City of Mansfield Law Enforcement Center, a facility owned and operated by the City by and through the City of Mansfield City Council. Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint ("Complaint") (docket entry 23) ¶¶ 1.01, 5.01, 5.30. Gillespie arrived in a patrol car to the Mansfield jail at approximately 5:35 p.m. that day. Mansfield Police Department Investigation Report ("Malcolm Report") at 3, attached to Complaint as Exhibit 4. Gillespie "was suffering from an acute overdose of a variety of medications" during his detention. Complaint ¶ 1.01. He later died while in custody in the Mansfield jail from a heart condition aggravated by a drug overdose which the plaintiffs contend "went untreated for hours due to the unconstitutional policies, practices and customs of the Mansfield Jail, as adopted and maintained by its policy makers, ... Chandler and ... Aaron which treated drug overdoses identically to alcohol intoxications." Plaintiffs' Response to Defendants' Second Motion & Brief to Dismiss & Alternatively Plaintiffs' Motion to Abate and to Compel Defendants to Answer Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint ("Response") (docket entry 26) at 2; see also id. at 9.

The plaintiff Lindsey N. Self ("Lindsey Self") was Gillespie's wife at the time of his death. Complaint ¶ 3.01. The plaintiff Elin Victoria Self-Gillespie is the daughter of Lindsey Self and Gillespie. Id. ¶ 3.02. The plaintiff Paula K. Long ("Paula Long") was Gillespie's mother. Id. ¶ 3.04.

The City is a municipality of the state of Texas and a council-manager form of government. Id. ¶ 3.05; Response at 7. At the time of Gillespie's detention and death, Chandler served as city manager, and Aaron served as chief of police for the City. Complaint ¶¶ 3.06, 3.07. The plaintiffs maintain that the Mansfield City Council delegated policy making authority to Chandler, and in turn Chandler delegated policy making authority to Aaron. Response at 7-8. The plaintiffs further assert that the "adoption of the unconstitutional policies for the operation of the City of Mansfield Jail were adopted by [Chandler and/or Aaron]." Id. at 8.

The plaintiffs contend that throughout Gillespie's detention until the time of his death "he was presenting clear and obvious signs of suffering from a severe and acute drug overdose." Complaint ¶ 5.30. The plaintiffs further maintain that "[t]he difference in alcohol intoxication versus a drug overdose was known or should have been known to the [d]efendants at the time of ... Gillespie's detention at the City of Mansfield Jail and his subsequent death just hours after being taken into custody." Id. ¶ 5.06.

At the Mansfield jail, each pretrial detainee goes through "a medical screening process during book-in[.]" Defendants' Second Motion & Brief to Dismiss ("Motion") (docket entry 25) at 9. As a part of that process, an administered medical questionnaire "seeks information about medications the arrestee uses, any medical conditions, if they are under the influence or if they have illnesses." Id. at 14. Jail personnel log that information into a computer system which is reviewed by on-staff nurses. Id. at 9-10, 14.

After Gillespie was searched, he was placed in a holding cell. Malcolm Report at 3. Eighteen minutes later, another pretrial detainee in the same cell alerted jail officials that Gillespie might be suffering from a seizure. Id. at 4; Motion at 16; Complaint ¶ 5.44. Nurse Kimberly Barnes ("Barnes") subsequently entered the holding cell, checked Gillespie's vital signs, and spoke to Gillespie, at which time he reported that he had taken the anti-seizure medication Keppra in a dosage of 500 milligrams for past seizures. Motion at 16; Malcolm Report at 4; see also Mansfield Police Department Statement Form of Kimberly Barnes ("Barnes Statement") at 1, attached to Complaint as Exhibit 7. According to Barnes, Gillespie would not tell her "if he was on any drugs or anything...." Malcolm Report at 9. Gillespie appeared "groggy" in the holding cell, but Barnes found that "very typical for somebody who had a seizure because you can sleep all day after you have a seizure." Id. Barnes ordered Gillespie moved from the holding cell to a segregation cell so that he could rest on a mattress on the floor rather than in a bunk bed from which he might fall if he suffered another seizure or became disoriented. Id. at 1. Mattresses are not permitted in holding cells. Id. Before Gillespie was placed in the segregation cell, Barnes, in the presence of Mansfield jail correctional officer Megan Bailey ("Bailey"), asked Gillespie if he had "been drinking or taking anything, [and] he shook his head ‘No.’ " Motion at 16.

"Arresting Officer Herlihy told jail staff that Gillespie was drunk ... [and thus] sought a DUI blood draw because he suspected Gillespie was drunk." Id. at 15; see also Defendants' Reply Opposing Plaintiffs' Response & Motion (Doc. 26) Regarding Defendants' Second Motion to Dismiss ("Reply") (docket entry 27) at 5. Barnes "saw nothing about Gillespie's condition that made him stand out as having any risk different from any of the other hundreds of intoxicated people she had dealt with." Motion at 15. Jail officials also considered Gillespie drunk and not "under a drug overdose." Reply at 5.

After a warrant was issued for the blood draw, jail officials transported Gillespie to the nurses' station for the blood draw in a restraint chair because the wheelchair was in use, and Gillespie was unable to stand or walk without assistance. Motion at 16; Malcolm Report at 4, 7. Gillespie was not restrained in the chair. Malcolm Report at 4. He was in and out of consciousness during the blood draw. Complaint ¶ 5.29. After Barnes drew Gillespie's blood, she administered him a 500 milligram tablet of Keppra. Motion at 16; Complaint ¶ 5.47; Barnes Statement at 1; Malcolm Report at 5. The plaintiffs contend that Barnes illegally diagnosed Gillespie's medical condition and prescribed Keppra, the effects of which contributed to or exacerbated Gillespie's medical overdose condition. Complaint ¶¶ 5.51-5.53.

At 7:44 p.m., correctional officers then placed Gillespie back into the same segregation cell so that he would be monitored more closely (i.e ., approximately every 30 minutes). Motion at 16-17. Gillespie was told to stay on his side in case he might vomit and then asphyxiate. Id. at 16; see also Mansfield Police Department Statement Form of Megan Bailey ("Bailey Statement") at 2, attached to Complaint as Exhibit 6. To this directive Gillespie responded, "This isn't my first rodeo." Motion at 17; Bailey Statement at 2. He then covered himself with a blanket. Id. The defendants aver that "[a]t this point, Gillespie ... acted in a way consistent with a person planning to sleep off their alcohol intoxication." Motion at 17. After placing Gillespie in the cell, Bailey and other officers checked on Gillespie at 7:54 p.m., 8:21 p.m., 8:37 p.m., 8:40 p.m., 9:28 p.m., 9:33 p.m., 9:59 p.m., 10:05 p.m., 10:14 p.m., 10:19 p.m. 10:27 p.m., 10:36 p.m., 11:31 p.m., 11:39 p.m., and 11:48 p.m., looking through the cell window and/or making a log entry. Malcolm Report at 5-6; see also Bailey Statement at 2. Each time Bailey looked through the cell window, she observed Gillespie "move his leg or the blanket." Bailey Statement at 2. When Barnes entered the cell to take Gillespie's blood pressure at 12:18 a.m., she noted that he was without respirations. Barnes Statement at 1; Bailey Statement at 2; Malcolm Report at 1, 6. Barnes called for an ambulance crew and provided CPR while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.¹ Motion at 17 n.2; Malcolm Report at 6. At 12:28 a.m., medics arrived. Malcolm Report at 6. At 12:53 a.m., Gillespie was pronounced dead at Mansfield Methodist Hospital after "attempted life saving measures." Id. at 1; see also id. at 6. An autopsy revealed that Gillespie "had coronary artery disease that was consistent with hearts of cocaine users." Id. at 3. The doctor performing the autopsy reported that Gillespie "would not have lived much longer with that heart." Id.

The Mansfield jail processes 20-50 pretrial detainees a day, or 7,300 to 18,250 per year. Motion at 10. Prior to Gillespie's death, pretrial detainees Renee Prestidge Johnson and Wendale Webb died while in custody at the Mansfield jail in 2008 and 2015 respectively. Complaint ¶¶ 5.19-5.21. The plaintiffs maintain that "[t]he circumstances of the deaths Of [sic] Ms. Pretidge [sic] and Mr. Webb were substantially similar to the death of ... Gillespie [– t]hat is, a drug overdose that went undiagnosed and untreated leading to death." Id. ¶ 5.22. Subsequent to Gillespie's death, there have been six custodial deaths at the Mansfield jail, but the plaintiffs do not know if any of these deaths resulted from "unconstitutional policies or customs ... related to the denial of medical care for persons suffering from an overdose that went undiagnosed and untreated." Id. ¶¶ 5.23-5.24.

On February 27, 2018, Lindsey Self...